Hoeing into Herring - Herring Recipes
Wherever you fish around the South West coast of Western Australia, most of the year round, rain or shine, there is nearly always some herring about.
These scrappy little fighters are WA's most popular recreational angling species and end up on fisher family dinner plates from Shark Bay
monotonous regularity. However, there is nothing boring about the taste of herring, particularly if cooked with a little imagination.
Herring is also excellent smoked. It is a little known fact that fish smokers can often be bought from tackle shops, along with the sawdust necessary to do the smoking, at very reasonable prices.
Grilled Mustard Herring
(Serves Four)
This is ideal as a quick tasty tea or as a starter for a dinner party. Allow a couple of hering per person for the latter and, believe me, your family/guests will be impressed.
8 fresh herring
2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard
1 ½ teaspoons of lemon juice
Olive or sunflower oil
Salt
Black pepper
Method
Scale and gut the herring. Make four or five thick diagonal slashes on the side of each fish and spread the mustard into them, using a knife. Season the fish with salt and pepper and brush the fish with lemon juice and oil. Place the fish on grill plate and grill at medium high heat for around 6 minutes a side, turning once. The fish are ready to eat when they are cooked through to the bone and their skin is crisp. Serve with crusty brown bread and plenty of butter.
Grilled Garlic Herring
Prepare, cook and serve in a similar fashion to the "Grilled Mustard Herring", except substitute four to Eucla, sometimes with teaspoons of crushed garlic for the two tablespoons of mustard. Remember, that's teaspoons instead of tablespoons!
Mix the garlic with a little softened butter to make it easy to apply to the fish. Garlic lovers will not be disappointed. TOP
Chokka Herring
(Serves Four)
This one goes down a storm, especially on a cold autumn night. Tasty, simple and quick to make. It is adapted from an old English recipe for their native herring.
8 (or more) fresh herring
large knob (25g) of butter
2 bacon rashers
1 small onion
1 hard boiled egg, finely chopped
50 g of mushrooms (optional)
3 tablespoons of breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons of cream
Pinch of mixed herbs
Salt
Black pepper
Method
Scale, gut and fillet the fish, wash and dry. Chop the onion and bacon finely. Melt butter in a frypan and fry the bacon over a low heat, stirring to prevent it sticking, for about three minutes. Add the onion and fry until it is soft and transparent.
If using mushrooms, clean and chop them finely. Add them to the pan and stir over medium heat for about 2 minutes.
Remove pan from heat and add breadcrumbs, chopped egg, mixed herbs, and cream. Mix well and season with salt and pepper.
Lay half the fillets on the bottom of a well buttered narrow baking dish. On top of these, make a thick layer of the mixture.
Place the rest of the fillets on top of the mixture and press the resulting 'sandwich' firmly together. Place some small knobs of butter on top and dust the sandwich lightly with salt and pepper.
Place the dish in a moderately hot oven (190 deg C) and cook for about 25 minutes. Serve with boiled potatoes and tomato sauce.
Nathan's Soused Lemon Herring
(Serves Four)
This recipe is a little more fiddly than the previous ones, but does not require the use of a stove! Those lucky and adventurous souls who enjoy night fishing and have a car fridge could even have this tasty dish for breakfast on the beach - with a little careful planning.
8 fresh herring (when we say fresh, we mean fresh)
Up to 8 lemons or a bottle of lemon juice
1 large or two medium tomatoes
1 large onion
Salt
Black pepper
Method
Fillet and skin the herring, so that you have lots of small fingers of flesh. Remember not to scale fish you are going to skin - the skin will always come away easier if the scales are still attached. A proper filleting knife is useful here. Watch out for your own fingers!
Finely dice the tomato and onions and mix with the herring fillets. Lay the mixture on a large deep plate, season, flatten and cover it completely with lemon juice. Cover the plate and leave it to stand for eight hours/overnight in the fridge.
Drain and eat the herring the next day, accompanied by fresh crusty bread and a glass of cold beer or white wine.
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